New Life and New Beginnings

On Thursday we received another batch of 3,500 one-day chicks for our chicken run at My Father's House in Nyangwena. A lot of new life that hopefully in about 5 weeks will generate income for the orphan homes. These chicks will have to give their lives so that we can help support the orphans in the homes. Without knowing it these chicks follow one of Jesus' commandments.

It is always amazing to see these little chicks in such big numbers and how they always seem to bunch together. They seek comfort and warmth by huddling close together in great numbers. When I reflected on our sermon from this morning, which was about unity in the church, I had to think about the chicks that find great comfort in being together. It would be wonderful as we as Christians would be able to find the same kind of comfort and strength as the chicks from being closely together. However, as the pastor mentioned in his sermon, often we let pride get in the way of maintaining the unity in our church. We don't like someone because he/she talks different or has a life-style that we don't agree with. There are all kinds of reasons why we create different groups and "churches" within The Church. But we were reminded that Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:2-6 "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and one Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." We have to live out what Paul writes here, we just can't sit still and watch what is happening but we are called to be in the middle of things and show our unity to the world. That unity and our humbleness will be an expression of God's love for the world.

Jesus gave His life for us so that we may live forever. We were given a New Life by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ though we did not deserve any of it. Therefore we should be extremely thankful and at the same time very humbled. And when we're humble we put other people and their needs first instead of our own. If we would live out what Paul wrote to the Ephesians there would only be one church, The Church, the body of Christ. I feel that here in Zambia but also in North America and around the world there is a great need for unity in the Christian church. How can we stand strong in the face of the battle that goes around this world if we are so divided? Let us be completely humble and gentle; patient, bearing with one another in love. That would be a great beginning of being the body of Jesus Christ, His bride!

Another new beginning was in the air this past Friday when the Esther School assessed a group of about 55 little kids for their new pre-school for next year which starts in September. Machteld, Lucinda and some others helped out with the different activities that the little kids had to go through to assess their readiness for school. It was great to see the enthusiasm of the kids and the anticipation in the eyes of their mamas. It was also great to see that some of the mamas from My Father's House were volunteering to "man" some of the stations. It is encouraging to see how the community is coming together for these kinds of activities. The Esther School is really making a difference in Nyangwena and the lives of the little kids that have the privilege of being able to attend. God is clearly at work in and through the Esther School, providing hope and a new beginning for the kids and the community they are part of.

Finally, there is a new beginning in the air when it comes to our transportation. Yesterday, Humphray left Lusaka by bus and headed to Dar-es-Salaam to pick up our vehicle and drive it back to Lusaka. We hope and pray to see him back here in Lusaka sometime this coming week. By that time, it has been almost 3 months since we purchased the vehicle. It will open a new chapter in our activities here in Zambia and we look forward to the increased mobility and the opportunities that it will provide us with.

Jesus Christ has given us new life by giving up His life on the cross. Let us give our lives for others so they may find eternal life in and through Jesus Christ.

African ingenuity at its best

This week was a very exciting week with the GEMS training team in Lusaka as well as the start of the process to get our vehicle to Zambia. Machteld went to the training on Tuesday and it was great to see all the counsellors together in a big group of over 100 women. It is clear that God is at work in Zambia amongst women and girls. Today we had a farewell lunch with the GEMS team and the DeKam and Roelofs families which was a great time together, especially since we have met pretty much all of the GEMS team on trips before. It was great to catch up again and to hear from them as well how things have changed and improved over time. God is faithful.

Our vehicle is supposed to arrive in Dar-es-Salaam tomorrow (Monday). After that it takes a few days to clear all formalities and we expect to be able to pick up the vehicle towards the end of the week. With a little bit of luck we might have it next weekend which would be a great relieve. The last two weeks Machteld has been using Sophie's vehicle which has been a great improvement in our overall mobility.

It was also our 28th anniversary on Wednesday which we celebrate with a nice dinner together since Lucinda was staying at the Esther School in Nyangwena. It doesn't happen that often that it is just the two of us so it was a nice coincidence that we had the evening together on our anniversary. We also realized that we have been living abroad longer than we lived in The Netherlands since we got married. It is almost 15 years ago now that we moved to France after having lived in The Netherlands our whole live. It also makes you realize that you`re getting older and looking at the girls we know for sure that we are getting "old" as Lucinda would say.

Also on Wednesday we got ourselves a nice anniversary present. It is a great piece of African ingenuity. A few weeks ago we saw some great hammocks on the Dutch Market which were very comfortable. We ordered two of them and we got them on Wednesday, our anniversary.

The hammocks are made out of mukwa hardwood pieces through which they put ropes like in a normal hammock. But the advantage is that the hammock stays relatively flat and doesn't wrap around you as most would do. The guy that came up with the idea is Jerry and he is originally from Malawi and he has a Zambian helper (Robbie) to make the hammocks. It is a great piece of African ingenuity with the rigid ribs of hardwood keeping the hammock in shape. With the mattresses with local fabric and locally made we really feel privileged to have these great African piece in our backyard. I am sure that there would be a great market for these hammock in North America (I don't think the design is patented yet).

Finally, Gert started this week using Facebook. He has resisted for many years but finally gave in and is slowly getting into the use of it. Of course we will continue to use this blog to communicate with all of you as to have things are going. On Facebook we will probably give short updates whereas the blog we will go a little more into detail about what we do and experience here in Zambia.

We are slowly getting into our routines of working and playing with the kids, especially now that they have vacation till the middle of May, as well as in the office. We hope and pray that we can be a blessing to the people we reach out to and touch and that God's love for them may shine through us. Shining Light and Showing Love is becoming very real for us as what we are called to do every day. May this be true for all of us and you, that God may shine His light and show His love through us all!

Blessings and have a great week.

We are God's hands and feet in this world, wherever we are

This past week we had the pleasure of having Jan Boone from GEMS visiting us. She arrived on Saturday morning last week and called us in the afternoon to see if she could visit us. We asked her to join us on Sunday for church and visit us after that. We had a great time catching up and we talked a lot about everything that God has been doing for us here in Zambia. It never stops to amaze me when we put all things together how much God is in control. Often we don't give Him the credit and recognition for that but He is our Lord!

This week we got an email from Nick Kuipery to all the Acton Bethel CRC volunteers for the last clean-up of our church in Acton before the dedication service and open house tonight. It is amazing to see how the whole expansion has come together and was completed in such an amazing short time frame. Our Breaking Down Walls ministry campaign has certainly taken hold of many people in and around Acton. We hope and pray that, now that the building is ready, through all the different ministries God's kingdom may be furthered. Having been part of the process for such a long time it is a bit sad not to be able to be there for the dedication but it is not about me or us, it is all about glorifying God. He deserves the glory, honour and praise for everything He has done for us and our church in Acton.

Looking at the weather in Acton we are glad to be in Zambia. The freezing rain, school closures for two days, power outages, etc. over the last few days is something that we don't miss but we hope and pray that everyone remained safe. Many people here are complaining about the early arrival of cold weather. Overnight it is about 13C (55F) and during the day about 23C (73F) which for many people here, especially the nights, is cold. They dress as if it is the middle of winter almost whereas we are still walking around in t-shirts and shorts. It is all what you are used to.

On Wednesday Gert had the distinct honour and pleasure to meet the headmen that are responsible for the area around the homes in Nyangwena. There are two headmen, who are related to each other and are a brother and sister. In our meeting we were welcomed warmly into the community and we were told that we are now brothers and sisters. For any issues we can come to the headmen and ask their advice and guidance. I could see first hand how some issue was being discussed between the headmen after one of them had investigated the matter in the village. It seems that they take their tasks and responsibility very seriously and they spend a lot of time dealing with village matters. Therefore it is also a custom to bring gifts (food items) to the headmen when you go and visit them since they can spend less time attending their fields. The gifts (cooking oil, sugar, salt, bread) is sort of a salary paid to the headmen for the work they do for the village. There is no official salary for headmen like we pay our mayor and councillors so the headmen get their compensation "in kind". With the appropriate gifts given I think that this is a good way of compensating headmen for what they do. Visitors bring according to their ability and the matter they bring forward. This is another example to us in which the Zambians are dealing with issues and each other on a much more personal level. They don't have many institutions that are responsible for looking after all kinds of things so it is much more through personal connections and interaction that matters are dealt with.

When I reflected on my visit with the headmen and the dedication service and open house of our Acton church tonight, it dawned on me that everything we are called to do is based on personal relationships. God calls us to love our neighbour as ourselves and in order to do that you have to know him or her. The ambition of the Breaking Down Walls campaign is to connect with people and invite them into the fellowship of Jesus Christ. This is all about developing personal relationships with new visitors and believers. You can't do that through institutions but as believers we have to get personally involved. The African culture is still very much focused on those personal relationship, probably because there are few institution to rely on. It was a good reminder that we are God's hands and feet in this world and He can only do His will for this world through us. We have to personally get active and involved in building and creating those personal relationships with others. No one can do that for us other than each and everyone of us, whether in Acton, Zambia, India or wherever we are called to serve. We are God's hands and feet and all part of the same body, the bride of Christ.

A small scare at Immigration and the Chicken Challenge

Yesterday we went to Immigration to check up on our work permit. This time the same officer that we dealt with the previous time was very helpful and stamped our passports with another 60 day visa till the beginning of June. No mistakes this time but when she had stamped our passports she told us to go and see another officer.

We went there and waited for a bit and then when he looked at our papers he started looking through a very thick binder with pages and pages of names. He went through the whole binder looking for our name for about a half hour but couldn't find it. Then he went back to the officer that we had first seen and started looking through all the files on her desk. He even asked Gert to look through a stack of envelopes to see whether there was one that was addressed to Every Orphan's Hope. That was not the case and the file was not on the officer's desk. Then we went back to his desk and he started looking through some more files and binders but couldn't find our name. Then he left and went upstairs and while we were waiting another lady said that probably they had lost our file. That was not a good sign and we were hoping that that would not be the case. After a little while he came back with a notebook and started looking in there. At first he couldn't find us either but then he started over again and finally he found our name. After that he said that we were fine and that we could leave. For whatever reason the computer did not indicate where our file was and in what stage so they had to get that sorted out. Fortunately they found our name in the register and hopefully from there they will be able to locate it. It took about an hour and a half and we had some nervous moments but in the end it all worked out.

Today we went to the Dutch Market and bought a few more furnishings for our home. It starts to look more and more cozy with now also some smaller knickknacks. While we were at the market we ran into Barb Miedema, one of the GEMS trainers that we have met on a previous trip about a year ago. It was great to see her again and we heard that the rest of the team will arrive on Thursday and that Jan Boone was arriving today. So we will get a chance to meet up with some more people that we know in the next two weeks. This afternoon Jan Boone called us to see whether we could meet again and we decided to invite her to come with us to church tomorrow and then spend some time at our house. It will be great to catch up again.

This past week we had the final delivery of the chickens from the EOH chicken farm. This time we had again some challenges with transportation but fortunately we had no mortality of chickens, even with the extra 3 hours wait. Over the past two weeks we found that there were some issues with our manager and how he handled some of the finances that he was entrusted with as well as the chickens. We had some good talks and we'll need to continue that but more importantly is that he repents of his mistakes and asks God for forgiveness. We are not to judge him but only to rebuke and point out the mistakes he made. We hope that he will turn his heart to Jesus and away from some of the bad habits he displayed. Please pray for a good ending of this all. We are also in the process of finding a new buyer for our chickens. We hope to find one that can take all the chickens at once and who has its own transportation and baskets. With everything going on around the chicken farm we jokingly talked about the Chicken Challenge that we had these past weeks. But things seem to turn around and we hope to be able to finalize a new contract with a buyer this coming week and resolve and settle some of the other issues.

Looking at the weather in Canada we are still very fortunate here in Zambia. People keep telling us that this time of the year is probably the nicest time with lush green still around, no more rains and sunny days with nice temperatures. It is hard to believe that it has been almost 3 months that we left Canada behind at the start of what turned out to be a good winter with lots of snow. We missed that all and I can't say that we are really sorry about that. We got our rainy season here in Zambia which is not the same but for Zambians it counts as the season where they can't get out and around much. So for them it feels like our winter. With this nice weather upon us we have started some work in our garden around the house.

We got some fruit trees from other long-term residents here at Justo Mwale and the gardeners have been great in getting us some vegetables and herbs. Now we'll just have to wait and see how it will all work out. Maybe in a few months we will have our own lettuce, tomatoes and herbs and in a few years we might have our own bananas, avocados, papayas, mangos and guavas. Once they are a little bit bigger we'll show them to you.

Finally, this week we received the paperwork for our vehicle that we purchased about two months ago. Hopefully in another 2 weeks or so the vehicle will arrive in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. From there we will need to pick it up and drive back to Zambia. In the office, Humphrey already volunteered to pick up the vehicle for us and it seems that he has done that before. We will figure that all out in the next week or so. Finally there is light at the end of the tunnel of not having our own vehicle. In a few weeks we hope to be able to show you some pictures of the house with our new vehicle parked under the carport.

Blessings to you all and know that Spring is around the corner (at least in Canada).